


All is Lost

by AmberlyNightengale



Series: Tales of the Northuldra [1]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-02-18 16:40:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21780550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmberlyNightengale/pseuds/AmberlyNightengale
Summary: What happened after Iduna saved Agnarr from the Enchanted Forest? How did they become friends? How did no one realize that Iduna was Northuldra? This story answers all those questions, following Iduna as she adjusts to life in Arendelle. Watch the story of adventure, finding what is within, and forbidden love play out as we discover the truth behind Iduna's past.
Relationships: Agnarr/Iduna (Disney)
Series: Tales of the Northuldra [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1569661
Comments: 5
Kudos: 36





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED FROZEN II YET IT'S REALLY GOOD SO DON'T PUT IT OFF JUST GO WATCH IT AND COME BACK AND SCREAM AT HOW FREAKING ADORABLE AGNARR AND IDUNA REALLY ARE!!!!

Agnarr

Chaos. Blood and bodies. Fighting everywhere.

And somewhere in the midst of it all, an angelic voice singing.

I ran, disobeying Lieutenant Matteis's order to stay where I was. My father was here somewhere. I had to find him.

I did. Just in time to see him tumble off the edge of the dam, falling, falling into the racing white-tipped waters below.

A pained shout. I think it was me. I stretched out in vain, knowing I could never reach the father who would never again whisper my name lovingly into my ear.

Pain erupted in the back of my skull. My knees buckled. Black spots danced behind my eyelids as I fell helplessly to the ground.

The ethereal voice rang in my ears.


	2. Blocked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iduna really meets Agnarr as she discovers she cannot go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited to finally be bringing you the next part of All is Lost! The prologue was told from Agnarr's POV, but the rest of the book is Iduna.

My limbs tingled. My breath shuddered. My hands seemed to vibrate, the way they did when I was overly excited.

But I was not excited. Quite the opposite in fact. I was afraid.

I was afraid of the battle, the sight of my father facing off against one of the strange visitors, his eyes filled with hate. I was afraid of the mist that had settled over the forest, my home, just as I passed the Spirit Stones.

But most of all, I was afraid for the boy I’d taken with me.

It was foolish, I knew. My mother had told me to run to the Stones, to not let anything stop me. Any companions would certainly slow me down.

But then I had seen the boy fall, downed by the hilt of the sword of one of his own men, who hadn’t noticed.

Before I could even think about what I was doing, I was running toward the boy. Cradling his head in my arms, I desperately sang the notes that I used to call the Wind Spirit, Gale, praying that he would give me strength.

For one terrible moment, nothing happened, and I feared that Gale was mad about the fighting.

Then the boy suddenly felt as light as one of the baby reindeer I often helped to feed. Encouraged, I lifted the boy into my arms, as easily as if he was a pile of firewood, and ran, the leaves of Gale’s magic swirling around me.

I had no idea where to take him, except for one repetitive thought-- away. Away from the fighting, away from the chaos, away from the danger.

Then I remembered my mother’s orders. Surely the Spirits wouldn’t mind protecting one more person.

I ran faster than I ever had before, as though Gale could sense my unvoiced need to get past the borders of the forest. The moment my feet touched the land that no longer belonged to the woods of my childhood, a glittering mist, too dense to see an inch into, fell over the trees, hiding the Spirit Stones from my sight, close as they were.

For what seemed like hours and probably was, I had sat here in this clearing with the boy. After tossing stones into the mist, I had gathered the courage to touch it with one outstretched finger. A soft glow from the depths of the mist, and my hand had shot back at me.

I couldn’t return home. I was blocked.

Now, I glanced over at the boy. Even after all this time, he had still not awakened. I suspected he had a head injury, but was too afraid of hurting him even more to check.

He certainly looked like no one I had ever seen before, with sharp, pointed features and wisps of golden hair fluttering around his face as his chest rose and fell the slightest bit with every breath. He wore a green goat with large gold buttons over a white shirt and black trousers with the strangest yellow insignia stitched onto the left breast. His black boots had raised heels, which I supposed must be terribly uncomfortable. None of his clothing was made from any material I recognized, and I was mystified as to how he stayed warm with no fur coat or anything. Still, I was glad that he didn’t seem to be freezing all the same.

This boy would be able to see his family again. He had a home to return to, however strange it may be. I, on the other hand, had nowhere to go from here.

A small trace of a groan escaped the boy’s lips, and my eyes widened. Could it be? I rushed to his side, prepared to assist him with any injuries I might not have seen.

The boy’s eyes slowly fluttered open. They were the color of the sky.

“Hey,” I said softly, adjusting my position so that he could see me without having to turn his head. “Are you all right?”

The boy opened his mouth as though to respond, but a moan came out instead. “What happened?” he muttered. “The fight… my father…”

My heart sank. Of course. The boy wouldn’t have come without his parents. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I don’t know who your father is, but the mist…”

“What mist?” He tried to sit up, but fell back with a cry of pain.

“Careful!” I warned him, a little too late, gently brushing my fingers around his skull to search for further damage. “You… fell pretty hard in there. You may not want to move for a while.”

The boy groaned again, then yelped as I pressed my fingers a little too roughly into a tender spot on his head. “Ow!”

“Sorry, sorry!” I said hastily, jerking my hands back to avoid hurting him more. “I didn’t mean--”

“I know, I know,” he said, inhaling sharply through gritted teeth. “It’s okay. Not your fault.”

“Sorry,” I said again, then reached for his injury again before hesitating. “Do you think… would you be able to sit up? Just a little bit, just enough for me to see…”

“Yeah,” the boy said. “Yeah, I think so.”

But I made him stop before he could get up all the way because of the awful hissing sound he was making trying not to scream. Instead, I propped his head up on my leg so that I could tend to his wound more readily without hurting him. I observed his injury in silence.

“I’m Iduna, by the way,” I finally said, thinking he might want to know the name of the stranger who had saved his life.

He smiled, trying to look up at me without moving his neck. “Agnarr.”

I gave him a small smile in return, then looked back at his injury. “Looks pretty good, actually,” I concluded. “On the outside, anyway. Just a nasty bruise. Might be some internal damage, but I think you’re okay. You’re lucky. You could have died.”

Agnarr suddenly got a sad look in his blue eyes. “Does it make a difference whether I died or not?” he asked softly, his voice hollow. “I have no way of getting home.”

“Don’t say that,” I said sharply. “You can walk home if you have to. Your mother and the rest of your family will be missing you.”

Agnarr stared into the sky. “I don’t have any brothers or sisters,” he said. “And my mother died when I was very small.”

A pang of understanding shot through my chest. “I’m sorry,” I said in a small voice. “I didn’t realize--”

“It’s fine,” Agnarr said, and I was surprised to hear a hard edge in his voice. I realized he’d probably heard the same thing from so many other people, and it probably didn’t seem genuine anymore. I knew I’d felt the same way after my grandmother had died.

“I _am_ sorry,” I said after a long silence. “But there must be _someone_ back home that cares about you, someone who’ll miss you if you don’t return.”

Agnarr chuckled humorlessly. “You’re right there,” he said. “I suppose I’ll have to go back, won’t I?”

“Not for some time, though,” I said. “You’ll have to heal some before you can travel. You’ll need to stay here for at least a day, maybe two.”

“Two days?” Agnarr looked distressed. “What will we eat?”

“Relax.” I patted the side of my leg, where my little deer-bone knife hung from my belt, the way it had since my father had carved it for me when I was seven. “I’ve been hunting for my family for years.”

Agnarr nodded, though he still looked worried. “We _are_ going to cook any meat you catch, though, right?”

I laughed out loud. “Goodness, I’m not an _animal_! We cook our meat just like you! What, are you a lord or something to think something like that?”

I had meant that last part as a joke, but Agnarr suddenly looked sheepish. My grin faded. ” _Are_ you a lord?”

“No,” Agnarr replied, a bit hastily. But before I could ask him more, he closed his eyes with a painful grimace. “It hurts.”

I nodded. “You should get some rest.” Then I laughed quietly as I realized he was already asleep, snoring softly as his head rested against my thigh.

Deciding that I could use some rest as well, I leaned back against a nearby stone, careful not to disturb my newfound companion. “Sleep well, Agnarr,” I murmured as I gazed back at my hidden home, from which I was now blocked.

Then my eyelids drooped, and I drifted off into peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has gotten more hits on a single chapter than any of my other works! Thank you so much for your support!


	3. Ahtohallan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iduna recalls the forms magic has taken in her life. After reuniting with an old friend, she tells her new friend of a magic river that holds all the answers to every question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, sorry it's taken so long to update this! This chapter was really long and took FOREVER to write! Plus, Corona virus madness, UGH. But now it's finally here, and I hope you all enjoy!

The next morning, I awoke at dawn. This was a habit, to wake up at the time when the fish are still lazy and stupid and catch something to eat. I never tried to catch rabbits or birds, as their pleading had always made me release them in the end anyway.

That’s how I had originally discovered I could speak to animals. The day my father had given me my knife, I went out to check the traps, eager to go out and kill my first rabbit with my very own knife.

I was in luck. The first trap I came to contained a fat, soft brown hare. There was terror in its eyes as I approached, which disturbed me, but I brushed it aside, reminding myself that if I did the job well, Mama might make me a new pair of mittens from the rabbit’s lovely fur.

I raised my knife, and the rabbit cowered in its trap. “Please, no!” it howled. “Don’t do this!”

I froze. “You can _talk_?”

The rabbit peeked up at me. Its long ears perked up hopefully. “Can you understand me?”

“Of course I can,” I said, confused. Why shouldn’t I be able to understand a talking rabbit?

Then it occurred to me: the rabbit _wasn't_ talking. Not like a human, anyway. But I could understand its language. 

"You are one of the gifted!" the rabbit cried joyously. "Please, won't you release me?"

"My family needs to eat," I told her (I decided it must be a female), but my resolve was disintegrating. 

"As does mine," the rabbit said. "Please, I have a litter of six at home, and they are relying on me to bring them food. They will starve without me!"

Well, there was no way I could argue with _that_. I freed the rabbit, who thanked me profusely before starting to hop away. 

"Wait!" I called after her. "My family is expecting me to bring something home! What should I do?"

"Go to the river," the rabbit replied. "The fish are too many for the water they inhabit, and too stupid to beg to be set free."

So after that, my family only ate fish. I certainly didn't intend to change that now, even if it was likely I would never see my parents again.

By the time I returned to the clearing around midmorning, Agnarr was well enough to stand up and walk around on his own for a few minutes before having to sit down again from dizziness. Still, it was an improvement.

“There’s no way you can return home by yourself,” I said to him as I turned my latest kill over on the spit above the small fire I’d made by scratching two small stones together. “You can’t even walk properly on your own. We’ll need to find some other way to get you back.”

“You say that as if I’ll be going alone,” Agnarr said with a puzzled look on his face. “You’re coming too, aren’t you?”

“What?” Now it was my turn to look confused. “Why would you think that?”

“Well, you _are_ my nurse, after all.” The corners of Agnarr’s mouth quirked up in a half smile before his expression became solemn again. “Besides, it’s not like you can really go back to _your_ home, right?”

My stomach twisted, and I dropped my gaze.

“If you weren’t planning on coming with me,” Agnarr went on, looking at me with faint curiosity in his eyes, “what _were_ you planning on doing after I left?”

“I don’t know,” I muttered, keeping my eyes on the trout over the fire. “I guess… maybe I thought I would just live in the wild _here_ or… or something.” I didn’t add that the “or something” meant asking the nearby wildlife for help in finding a gap in the mist.

“That doesn’t sound like much fun,” Agnarr said. He scooted over next to me and turned my head so I would look at him. “Come to Arendelle, Iduna. You can start a new life there. You can have a new family.”

I didn’t _want_ a new family, and I was sure Agnarr knew that. But since it was devastatingly clear that I would never see my own family again, never go _home_ again, the offer of a new life was painfully tempting.

“All right,” I finally relented. “I’ll come with you, if only to keep you from killing yourself out there.”

Agnarr beamed, his face lighting up like the full moon. “You’re going to love it there, Duna!” he said. “There’s so much to see, so many people and the most beautiful view of the fjord--”

“Shh!” I hissed, my senses suddenly on full alert. “Don’t-- make-- a sound.”

Agnarr fell silent at once. I guess he figured the girl with the knife who had been raised in the woods should be taken seriously when she was acting like there was danger nearby. Which there very well might be.

I signaled for Agnarr to take the spit and slowly rose to my feet, my eyes fixed on a good-sized mound overlooking the small creek I had been fishing in. My fingers hovered above the handle of my knife, ready to draw it if necessary. Something unseen on the other side of the hill rustled, and my muscles seized up, feeling stiff like a sapling drawn back nearly to its breaking point, ready to spring back up with full force. My fingers closed around the knife’s handle.

Then the source of the noise appeared atop the hill, and I gasped. “Askel!”

The baby reindeer bugled with joy and bounded toward me, tripping on his unsteady little legs. Laughing breathlessly, I knelt down and scooped him up into my arms, squeezing him tight.

“ _That’s_ what you were so tense about?” said Agnarr, who had climbed atop one of the larger rocks by the fire to get a better look at what was going on. The corners of his mouth were turned up in an amused smile. “It doesn’t _look_ very dangerous.”

“It isn’t!” I exclaimed gleefully, scratching the reindeer calf all over as he moaned with delight. “Oh, Askeladden, you wonderful, brilliant little boy, you got away!”

“Askeladden?” repeated Agnarr, sliding down from the rock and scooting over. “Like… from the fairy tales? Lucky third brother?”

“Lucky indeed!” I said. “Oh, Askel, I’m so glad you’re here!”

Askel lowed again. He was too young for his noises to actually mean words, but I could guess what he was thinking: “I’m so happy to see you! Got any food?”

“How did he get through the mist?” Agnarr wondered.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe he got through before the mist came, like we did. Or maybe there’s a hole in the enchantment somewhere.” My heart fluttered hopefully at that possibility, but soon settled back down with disappointment as I realized there was very little chance that that was the case, and even if it was, I would probably never find it.

“Lucky for him,” Agnarr said, smiling. He slowly held out his hand toward Askel. “Hey, there, little buddy.”

Askel eyed Agnarr’s hand warily before sniffing it cautiously, then gave it a tentative lick. Agnarr drew his hand back, startled, then laughed. “That tickles!”

Askel snorted, then curled up in my lap. I fed him a couple of berries I’d found while foraging for food, and he was soon asleep.

“How did you know that reindeer, anyway?” Agnarr asked as we ate our fish a few minutes later.

“Hmm?” I said distractedly, my attention on Askel’s still form a few feet away. “Oh, I was being trained to herd the reindeer before all this happened. I helped his mother give birth to him. He took an instant liking to me, so I was made his guardian and responsible for giving him a name. I chose Askeladden because he had two older brothers and I hoped he would bring me luck.” I blushed as I realized I was telling this strange boy I barely knew all the things I’d never told anyone. “He’s my best friend.” _Aside from Gale,_ I added silently.

“Really?” Agnarr said. “Don’t you have any… _human_ friends?” His ears turned red as he said this.

I rolled my eyes. “None my age. All the kids my age are boys, and they’re all absolute _pigs_.” My face grew even warmer than before as I realized who I was saying this to. “I mean, er…”

“That’s okay,” said Agnarr with a shrug, brushing off my humiliation. “Boys are stupid. I should know.”

I couldn’t help it. I giggled. To my relief, Agnarr just gave me an amused look and chuckled quietly himself.

“Well, about that reindeer,” Agnarr went on, as if nothing had happened, “how did you know it was him specifically? Aren’t all reindeer the same?”

Hot indignation rose up in me as he said this, but I stamped it down. He was from another culture; it was natural he would think this way. “Are all people the same?” I asked patiently.

Agnarr frowned, clearly wondering where I was going with this. “No, of course not.”

“It’s the same with reindeer.” I reached over to scratch Askel behind the ears, and his front hoof twitched in his sleep. “Each one is different, with his or her own gifts, appearance, and personality. Just as no two people are exactly alike, neither are reindeer.”

Agnarr nodded thoughtfully. “I never thought of it that way,” he said. He glanced at Askel, snorting heavily as he dreamed, probably about chasing butterflies or something like that. Agnarr smiled, as did I. Askel’s sweet innocence could make anyone smile.

“So, why _do_ you work with the reindeer already?” Agnarr asked after a quiet moment. “Aren’t you a little young? For how long you’ve been doing it?”

I glanced away. I didn’t want to tell him I could speak to animals yet. But if I told him the legends, and he made his own assumptions…

“It’s all very superstitious,” I said. “According to legend, there was a reindeer herder who the gods took a liking to. They granted him the ability to translate the sounds his reindeer made into his own language, so he could speak to them as one of their own. When he later had sons, he discovered that they had the gift as well. After a few generations, the tribe was overflowing with those who could speak the language of the wild.

“Then, suddenly, the gift began to die. The children of those who could speak in the animal tongue discovered that the sounds of the reindeer made no more sense to them than baby talk. After several decades, the stories of the animal whisperers were only that-- stories.

“Then, without explanation, some began to understand the songs of the birds and the bellows of the reindeer. The gift had returned, but it was… different. The gift was not passed from parent to child, and it mostly only allowed people to hear the animals’ _thoughts_. Those suspected of having the gift become reindeer herders, so that they can better control the ones whose language they hear.”

There was silence as my story ended. The only sound was the crackling of the fire.

“Wow,” Agnarr finally said. “You’re a _really_ good storyteller.”

I smiled bashfully. “Thanks.”

“So do _you_ have the gift?” he asked. “Is that why they made you a herder?”

I shrugged. “All that matters is that they _think_ I do.”

Agnarr smiled, then yawned. I looked up at the sky; the sun was setting, and the stars were becoming visible.

“It’s getting late,” I observed. “You should sleep. Maybe tomorrow you’ll be well enough for us to start the way back.”

“Do you really think we’ll make it?” he asked.

I stared out at the horizon, where the setting sun was turning the clouds orange and pink. “Only Ahtohallan knows,” I murmured.

Agnarr frowned. “Ahto-what?”

I looked at him, surprised. “Ahtohallan,” I said again. “Don’t you know about…”

Agnarr shook his head. “I’ve never heard of anything like that back in Arendelle,” he said apologetically.

I was still kind of shocked, but I was eager to tell him the story my mother had always whispered in my ear late at night when I was a little girl. I scooted closer to him. “Ahtohallan,” I whispered dramatically, “is a river as north as you can go, who holds all the answers to every question ever asked and even those no one has thought of yet. All magic comes from her waters, but no one has yet found her and returned.”

Agnarr shivered. “Woah.”

“My mother always sang me a song about it when I was really little,” I went on. “I’ve always wondered if I could find it. If _I_ could be the first to return from Ahtohallan with all the answers. It would make life so much easier, wouldn’t it?”

Agnarr nodded, his brow creased in thought.

“Though I guess it wouldn’t be all that nice,” I continued, thinking about it myself. “If we already knew everything, that would take all the fun out of learning things for yourself.”

“That’s true,” said Agnarr. He yawned again, then settled down, stretching out on his back and closing his eyes. Just as I thought he was falling asleep, however, he spoke again. “Would you mind singing that song you told me about?” he murmured. “I’d like to hear it.”

I blinked, a little surprised. No one had ever asked me to sing before. But I felt a little flutter of pleasure in my chest at his request and smiled. “Sure.”

I knelt down next to him and recalled my mother’s voice, singing these same words to me in my youth.

_“Where the north wind meets the sea,_

_There’s a river full of memory.”_

Askel’s hooves twitched at the familiar tune I often sang to him in the evening. Agnarr started snoring softly, but I still went on.

_“Sleep, my darling, safe and sound,_

_For in this river all is found.”_

Satisfied that Agnarr was asleep, I lay down next to him and closed my eyes. There was a soft breeze, and the scarf my mama had made me came to rest over my shoulders.

“Thanks, Gale,” I whispered into the night, then drifted into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To any of you who were wondering, Askeladden is a popular name in Norse fairy tales. It's often given to the "lucky third brother," who is born into a poor family and is a sort of male Cinderella, gaining fame and wealth through his great luck and heroic deeds. I just thought it would make a good name for a reindeer. ;)  
> This is one of my most successful series so far, even though it only has a prologue and, now, TWO chapters. I am so glad y'all are enjoying this, and I hope this can provide some light in these dark times. I love you all and hope this makes your quarantine a little more enjoyable. Think positive and stay safe!


	4. Journey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agnarr and Iduna begin the journey back to Arendelle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo! Sorry it's been so long since I updated this, guys! The chapters in this work are so much longer than in my other works and I thought I'd take a break for a little bit. But now we're back, FINALLY, and I can't wait to hear what you guys think of this part! Enjoy!

I was right. The next day, Agnarr was plenty well enough to walk on his own and stay standing for a long time, finally sitting down from fatigue rather than dizziness.

“You don’t have to keep sprinting all over the place, you know,” I called to him as he barrelled around the clearing at top speed. “Save that energy for when we actually need it.”

“I know, I know,” he said, coming to a stop in front of me, his breath coming in quick, short pants. “I’m just-- so excited! I can walk-- and run-- and--”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, it must be a miracle.” I handed him a piece of fish and some greens. “Now eat.”

Agnarr obediently took the food and began gobbling it up eagerly. Askel nudged my hand and mewled hopefully, and I tossed him a handful of berries. I was busy cooking the rest of the fish I’d caught that morning. It wasn’t much, but it would make a decent meal for all of us during the journey.

We’d be leaving for Arendelle today. Agnarr had told me so much about it during the two days we’d spent here together. Built on one of the biggest fjords, surrounded by mountains and lakes, with woods not quite so thick as my own a little further off. He seemed to regard it as the palace of the gods, but I wasn’t quite as enthusiastic. Sure, it sounded beautiful, but it just wouldn’t be my Enchanted Forest.

“We’ll be walking pretty much the whole way, unless we get lucky,” I said, placing one finished trout into a basket I’d woven from the long reeds near the river. “You said it was about a day’s ride here, right? Then it should take about three days to get there on foot.”

“It was shorter, actually,” said Agnarr through a mouthful of fish. “Only a few hours.”

“Ugh! Chew with your mouth closed!” I threw my hand up in front of my eyes to block his face, though I failed to suppress a smile. “Even better. At that rate, we should get there by tomorrow.”

“Perfect.” Agnarr swallowed and grinned at me. “I’m glad you’re coming with me, Iduna.”

I glanced down at the dying fire. “Where else was I supposed to go?” I murmured under my breath.

“Hmm?” Agnarr glanced up at me, his mouth sticky with berry juice.

“Nothing.” I stood up and squinted at the sun. “We’d better get going if we want to find good shelter before dark,” I said, scooping up the basket of foraged-for food. “We’ve got a long way to go.”

Agnarr nodded and stood up, his gaze scanning over the landscape opposite the mist. “I don’t remember exactly,” he said apologetically, “but I think we came… _that_ way.” He pointed roughly southeast and started in that direction. I followed closely, Askel trotting behind at my heels.

Suddenly, Agnarr gasped. “No way!” he cried. He ran ahead, and after a moment of staring in surprise, I struggled to keep up. He was just barely faster than I was after all these days of healing, and he’d had a bit of a head start.

“What is it?” I asked, then gasped as well. There, barely five hundred yards from our original starting place, stood a wheeled cart attached to a strange white deer with no antlers.

“Angus!” Agnarr cried joyfully, rushing to stroke the creature’s lush black mane. It whinnied softly and nuzzled Agnarr’s ear. _“Master.”_

“What is it?” I asked, perplexed by the creature.

“This is Angus, one of the palace horses. Oh,” Agnarr said, noticing my puzzled expression. “You’ve never seen a horse before, have you?”

In truth, I _had_ seen this creature Agnarr called a “horse” before; it was the preferred form taken by the Water Spirit Nokk, as I now recalled with a start. But of course I didn’t say this; I wasn’t sure how Agnarr would respond. I shook my head. “All we have in the forest are the reindeer,” I fibbed.

“Well, a horse is _like_ a reindeer, except with no antlers,” Agnarr explained. “And we’ve trained them to do things like carry us and our goods around.”

“That’s horrible!” I exclaimed, appalled. “You make them your _slaves_?”

Agnarr looked surprised, then laughed. “No, no, it’s not like that,” he said. “We don’t just _make_ them do anything just because we _feel_ like it. They help us, and in return we give them food, water, and shelter and take good care of them.”

“Oh.” I deflated slightly. “Well, that’s-- that’s better, I suppose. I guess I just thought--”

I stopped, embarrassed. Ever since the dam had been erected, Gale and the other Spirits had seemed agitated, so I hadn’t trusted it. And deep down, it seemed, I didn’t trust _anything_ its makers did differently.

Except it _wasn’t_ different. We did the same thing with the reindeer, except our idea of them helping us differed ever so slightly from Agnarr’s.

But Agnarr just shrugged. “It’s okay. I know you guys do things differently.”

I looked over the cart, carefully steering clear of the massive horse, which still made me kind of nervous. “Is this how you got here?” I asked.

“Yes!” cheered Agnarr. “This is great! Now we won’t have to walk all the way!”

I blinked. “You mean… have him pull us?”

The horse snorted. _“Please. I have carried loads much heavier than two children and an infant deer.”_

“I’m not questioning your strength,” I protested. “The idea is just a little strange to me.”

Agnarr frowned. “Umm… what?”

I nearly clapped my hands over my mouth as I realized who I’d just responded to. The horse looked at me, its eyes wide, startled. _“Can you understand me?”_

“Um… nothing,” I said quickly, turning my focus to Agnarr, though I gave the horse a tiny nod. “I just said the idea was a little strange, that’s all.”

Agnarr looked confused a moment longer, then chuckled. “Okay,” he said. “If you don’t like it, I guess Angus can just walk alongside us--”

“I never said that,” I said hastily, scooping up Askel and climbing into the cart with him. “I just said it was strange. I’ll have to get used to it if I’m going to live in Arendelle, won’t I?”

Agnarr smiled, looking a little bemused. “All right, then.” He climbed into the cart with me and Askel and patted the horse’s neck gently. “You know the way home, don’t you, boy?”

The horse tossed his head. _“Of course I do. I got you here, didn’t I?”_

“Okay, then,” said Agnarr, only guessing what the horse meant. “Let’s go!”

The cart jolted forcefully as the horse began moving, startling me enough that I shouted. Agnarr laughed, and, desperate to change the subject, I asked him to tell me more about Arendellian customs. I hardly heard a word he said, though, as the horse kept on calling back to me, asking how I was able to understand, and the motion of the cart made me nauseous, bumping up and down, rocking back and forth, every little pebble causing a barrage of violent rumbling in the cart. No doubt about it, I preferred walking by a landslide. That was smooth and quiet. Plus, using my own two feet to get around felt a lot safer, especially on the edge of the mountain.

Agnarr, on the other hand, seemed to be soothed by the rocking of the cart. After about an hour of riding, by which time my bottom had gone numb from the constant vibration, he lay down on the floor of the cart and fell fast asleep.

Seizing my opportunity, I eagerly tried to stand, then promptly fell back down with a groan, due to my stiff legs and sore bottom. Yep, walking was _much_ more my style.

I stretched out my legs, then waddled up to the front of the cart on my knees and leaned down next to the horse’s ear. “All right, he’s asleep now,” I said. “ _Now_ we can talk.”

The horse snorted in disbelief. _“You haven’t told him you speak the tongue of the wild? Have you any idea who he is?”_

“Of course,” I said, confused. “He’s Agnarr, a kid from Arendelle. Why should that matter?”

The horse seemed a little surprised, then muttered, _“It appears you are both hiding something from one another.”_

I frowned and opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but the horse seemed to realize what he’d said and cut me off. _“Who are you, wildtongue? I don’t remember anyone like you in the party to the Enchanted Forest.”_

“I’m Iduna,” I said. “I’m Northuldran.”

The horse came to an abrupt halt, causing me to nearly tumble over the front of the cart, as he reared up on his hind legs. _“You’re_ what _?”_ he thundered furiously.

Agnarr sat up, jolted awake by the sudden stop, and looked around with bleary eyes. “What is it? What’s happening?”

“It’s nothing,” I said quickly, frantically trying to think of an excuse. “There was a-- a snake on the road, and it startled the horse. But it’s gone now. Everything’s fine. You can go back to sleep now.”

It took Agnarr a moment to process this. Then he nodded drowsily and lay back down. When I was satisfied that he was asleep, I hissed, “What was _that_ all about?”

_“You’re_ Northuldran _?”_ the horse demanded. _“What are you doing coming to Arendelle?”_

Something stung in my chest. “There was-- fighting,” I said. “My people and the visitors started trying to hurt each other, and the Spirits got mad. This mist covered the forest and no one can get in-- or out, I assume.” My voice sounded hollow. “Agnarr and I were the only ones to escape.”

The horse grunted. _“Magic users,”_ he grumbled. _“Can’t trust them.”_

“What makes you say that?” I demanded. “What did magic ever do to you?”

The horse didn’t answer my question. After a while, he mumbled, _“I have a name.”_

“Oh?” I said, raising my eyebrows in feigned interest. “Do tell.”

_“My mother named me”_ \--the horse produced a series of whinnies and clicks that didn’t translate into human language-- _“but the master calls me Angus.”_

“Why do you call him ‘the master’?” I asked. “Aren’t you-- I don’t know, like, partners, or something?”

_“That is true,”_ Angus admitted. _“But to we horses, one human is very much like another. The only difference is which one is our true partner.”_ He eyed me skeptically. _“Tell me, how did you become a wildtongue?”_

“Is that what you call people like me?” I asked eagerly. “Are there more out there?”

_“None that I’ve met,”_ said Angus, and I wilted with disappointment. _“Wildtongues are a myth among beasts, though we know that they at least_ have _existed, but they were believed to have died out long ago.”_

“They did,” I said, “but they came back. They’re different, though, or most of them are. They can hear animals’ thoughts. I’m the only one I know of who can understand what animals are actually saying.”

_“Interesting,”_ Angus mused. _“Very interesting.”_ Then he paused, this stop much smoother than his last. _“I sense a presence. Possibly danger.”_

My senses perked up, and I felt it, too. I crouched in the back of the cart and withdrew my knife.

The sound of the bone blade leaving its sheath woke up Askel, who moaned as he, too, felt the danger, rousing Agnarr. “What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Someone’s here,” I said under my breath, just loud enough for him to hear. “We’re being watched.”

A rustle in the trees. I whipped around to face the source of the noise, my knife poised. I waited. And waited. The tension of the moment was thick enough that I could have sliced it with my blade, if I wasn’t preparing it for a different target.

Then someone burst through the foliage with a sword pointed at the cart. “Surrender yourselves, we have you surrounded!” he announced.

It was a man wearing a forest-green uniform with a strange headpiece. He rode a tan-and-white horse, and was backed up by five or six other men dressed in the same odd clothes. But I found the gold symbol on his breast vaguely familiar.

“Sir Addams?” said Agnarr, standing up to look at the men.

The man in the lead started at the sight of Agnarr. “Your Highness!” he exclaimed. “How are you here? We thought you were dead!”

I frowned. _Highness?_

“I almost was,” said Agnarr, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Thanks to my new friend, Iduna, I was able to return home.”

“And your father?” the man pressed.

Agnarr shook his head sadly.

The men looked solemn. Then the first one, who Agnarr had called Sir Addams, beckoned to Agnarr. “Come, Your Highness,” he said. “Let us return you both to the palace.”

“Highness?” I repeated as one of the other men set me on his horse. “Agnarr, what are they talking about?”

Agnarr looked sheepish, while Sir Addams looked at me in surprise. “Don’t you know?” he said. “This is Prince Agnarr, heir to the throne of Arendelle.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, geez. I can feel the fatigue coming on already. This work takes SO MUCH out of me, because I have to think of things that actually could have happened, and there's SO MUCH information that I feel like I need to include in each chapter. I haven't finished the draft for this yet, so it's gonna take me a LOOOOOONG time to finish this.  
> Oh, man. I just remembered that I planned on writing two more books after this.  
> Not that I'm complaining. I LOVE this story, but it's a lot more challenging than my other stuff. I guess that makes it the best though, because the challenging stuff is the stuff that improves your talent the most. And this is DEFINITELY pushing me to become a better writer. Maybe Disney should hire me to help write the Frozen prequel... Nah, there's no way I'm that good. Voicing young Iduna, though... Now, THAT'S something I can totally do.  
> Hope you guys are enjoying this so far! Have fun and stay safe!


	5. Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iduna arrives in Arendelle, but she isn't happy to learn about secrets that have been kept from her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! I'm excited to finally be giving you this next part of All is Lost! Enjoy!

I didn’t speak to Agnarr at all on the way back to the town. I didn’t even notice any of the amazing things he’d told me about. I was too angry for sightseeing.

How could he have kept this from me? Sure, _I_ hadn’t told him that my grandparents were the leaders of my tribe, but that’s because I was raised like any other normal kid in the tribe, since I was hardly first in line to lead. _I_ hadn’t been raised like I was more important than anyone else in my tribe, or even told my whole life that I would lead my entire people one day. You’d think that being set to become the next ruler of your people would be something you’d want to mention to someone who just might be your friend!

But apparently not. And now everyone was making a big deal about my arrival with the soon-to-be _king_ of Arendelle. Even if the first-class treatment hadn’t told me that, the dress would have.

It was like nothing I’d ever worn before. It was a deep indigo color I’d never seen in nature, with a long, full skirt and tight bodice. Small diamonds were stitched into the puffy sleeves, and the neckline exposed more of my collarbone than I would have thought possible without leaving my chest completely bare.

And I absolutely hated it.

Where were my nice deerskin tunic and breeches, with their soft fur lining and warm interior? This strange clothing was rough in comparison, extremely itchy, and required several layers of it to keep out the cold. My legs, pretty much bare and loose under the skirt, felt cold and exposed, the thin skin-toned stockings doing absolutely nothing to keep me warm. The only purpose they seemed to serve was to make it easier to slip on the cream-colored shoes, with raised heels to make me look taller and, apparently, want to chop off my feet. The backs of the shoes rubbed against my heels, and my toes were pinched uncomfortably. More than that, I couldn’t walk around on the balls of my feet without tripping over the hem of my skirt, which hung just over my toes. To solve this problem, I waited until the ladies who had forced me into this outfit left, then kicked off the creamy death-traps, scurried across the room, and tugged on my boots with a grateful moan the minute the door closed behind them.

Not wanting to make a fool of myself by wandering where I wasn’t supposed to, I decided to explore the room. The man who had directed me here had called it the “bedchambers,” and by the looks of it, that was what they called the room where one slept. But there was more in here than just a bed. Smallish pieces of wooden furniture stood next to the bed, where I supposed one would put their personal belongings before going to sleep. The wall seemed to open up into a whole other room, one filled, to my distaste, with shoes and gowns like the stuff those ladies had forced me into, only in a range of different colors and styles.

What drew my attention away from the gown room, however, was a large piece of furniture, carved with ornate designs on the edges, with a piece of rectangular glass propped up on top. I gaped at what I saw in the glass. It was my reflection, similar to what I saw when I looked into the river or a bowl of water back home, only unblemished by ripples.

For the first time, I saw myself exactly as others saw me, or how they would see me now. My face was heart-shaped, with a healthy glow in my cheeks. My eyes were the shape of almonds and the color of bluebells, and I thought I could catch little flecks of green in there somewhere. My auburn hair fell in soft, silky waves down my back, styled by the ladies who had dressed me. I looked like a princess… but it didn’t feel like me.

A knock at the door startled me away from the reflection. The door opened, and a man dressed in the same colors and style as the other people around the palace peeked inside. “Lady Iduna?” he said. “His Highness has asked for you.”

My anger stirred up inside me again. Oh, His _Highness_ wanted to see me? He’d see me, all right. And hear a few choice words of mine, too.

“I’m coming,” I said, smoothing my skirt and trying to imitate the formal postures of the other ladies I’d seen around the palace. The man gestured for me to follow him, and I held my head high, walking tall and straight like I thought people of great importance would. Which I guessed I was now.

Agnarr was in the throne room, sitting regally on a gold throne. Despite his mount being much too large for him, he somehow managed to still look serious and not amusing. My breath caught in my chest as I spotted him. He looked orderly, secure, ready to take charge. He looked like… a prince.

 _Stop that,_ I scolded myself inwardly. _Of course he looks like a prince. He_ is _a prince. And you’re supposed to be mad at him, remember? Spirits of the Woods, get a hold of yourself, Iduna!_

“Your Highness,” said the man who had led me here reverently. “May I present Lady Iduna.”

Agnarr, who had been looking over a list in the hands of someone I now recognized as a guard, turned, and his eyes lit up when he saw me. “Iduna!”

I hurried to collect myself and approached the throne calmly, keeping my expression smooth and blank. “Your Highness,” I said curtly, sinking into an exaggerated curtsy, like I’d seen the other ladies in the palace do around him.

The grin vanished from Agnarr’s face and was replaced with something like embarrassment. “You don’t have to do that,” he muttered, sinking back in his seat.

“What would you rather have me do?” I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm. I didn’t even care that there were other people present. “Bow? Kneel? Grovel at your feet?”

“Why can’t things be like they were before we got here?” Agnarr said, meeting my gaze. “Why can’t we just be friends, like then?”

“Because things were different then, _Sire_!” I practically snarled his title. “You were just Agnarr, some kid with a head injury! Now you’re a prince who’s supposed to become king of an entire country any day now!”

“Maybe I’m both of those people,” said Agnarr, standing up as though to try and make himself seem more intimidating.

I didn’t flinch. Instead, his show of dominance made even more fury boil up inside my chest. “Well, whoever you are, you’re a liar!” I all but shouted. “You didn’t tell me you were so special! What, you thought I would try and assassinate you or something?”

A lady near the door gasped. I realized that I might have just earned myself a lifetime of punishment, but I still didn’t retract my statement.

Agnarr had a hard look in his eyes. “Leave us,” he said, not taking his eyes off of me, though I knew he was addressing the other people in the room.

“Your Highness--” began the man who had led me here.

“I said _leave_ ,” Agnarr said, cutting him off. The man fell silent, bowed, and backed out of the room, the other man and the lady following suit.

Alone with me, Agnarr suddenly dropped his kingly manner. “Yes,” he said, his shoulders slumping, making him seem to age thirty years before my eyes. “I _did_ lie to you. Or didn’t tell you the whole truth. But not because I was afraid of you.” He sat back down, pressing his fingers over his eyelids. “You saved my life, Iduna. How could I be afraid of you after that?”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, still shaking with fury. “Why wouldn’t you tell me the truth?”

Agnarr looked up at me, the faintest trace of a smile playing on his lips. “I wanted to see if we could be friends,” he said. “Everyone treats a prince differently. I wanted someone to know _me_ \-- not the prince, just Agnarr. I didn’t want you to think there was that boundary between us.”

My anger evaporated. Seeing this helpless young boy, who had the weight of an entire kingdom thrust onto his shoulders before he was really ready, who just wanted a true friend, made it difficult to stay mad at him. “I guess that makes sense,” I muttered, somewhat unwilling to admit that I was wrong. “I’m sorry I yelled.”

“It’s okay,” said Agnarr. “You were upset. I get it.”

“Upset” was a little bit of an understatement, but I decided not to say that. “So… why did you want to see me?” I asked, wanting to change the subject.

“Oh, right!” Agnarr stood up again, suddenly devoid of his former helpless demeanor. “I wanted to ask you something.” He suddenly seemed bashful. “So… my coronation is supposed to be next week, and I was wondering… if you’d maybe like to be my guest of honor?” He bit his lip in embarrassment, avoiding my eyes. The tips of his ears reddened.

I blinked, stunned. “Me?” I said. “But… why?”

Agnarr was appearing to regret having said anything. “Well, you _did_ save my life,” he said sheepishly. “If it weren’t for you, there wouldn’t even _be_ a coronation.”

I felt myself blush and dropped my gaze, suddenly self-conscious. “I’d be honored,” I said softly. “I don’t know how to thank you. But I wouldn’t know how to behave…”

“Just be there,” said Agnarr. “And,” he added, glancing at the ground at my feet, where the toes of my boots were peeping out from under the bottom of my skirt, “come as you are. It suits you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ready for unpleasant surprises? We're nearing the end of my physical draft, which means that after a couple more chapters, I'll be taking a longer break than usual to get new stuff written. Sorry! But at least I can still give you a little bit more of this in the meantime. And pretty soon, I hope to include some art from my friend MarliaBlackbird. I've already commissioned her on a few other things pertaining to my works, and I absolutely LOVE what she brings to the table. I'm hoping to share her artwork with you in a couple of chapters, and I hope you love it just as much as I do.  
> Oh, one little thing. I am a big fan of the theory that Yelena, the leader of the Northuldran tribe, is related to Elsa and Anna, since she does share a pretty striking resemblance to Anna, in facial structure and stature. I thought that maybe Yelena was Iduna's grandmother or something, so I included that in here. That's all.  
> Thank you so much for reading! Have fun and stay safe!


	6. Lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iduna finds out more about her new place in society.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, lovelies! I'm so sorry about the huge break I've taken from this story, and especially apologetic about the length of this chapter. I needed a lot of time to plan out the rest of this book (of all the books/series I've written, this is the one I'm most making up as I go along), and even the break I've taken hasn't been enough. Hopefully I can pacify you guys with this one (short) chapter so y'all don't break down my door with pitchforks as I try to make my brain function. Enjoy!

As Agnarr’s guest of honor, I would be living in the palace until the coronation, after which time I would be “relocated,” as the palace guards put it, to a new home. Until then, I was told to enjoy my stay at the royal castle.

Life in the palace, however, was more intriguing than enjoyable in my mind. I got lost over a dozen times in the massive halls in the first afternoon and had to be rescued by the palace workers,who the apparently higher-ranking officials called “servants” and occasionally “maids.”

It appeared to me that the names “servant” and “maid” were used as derogatory terms by the workers on the higher end of the food chain, as though to be one was comparable to being a rat scurrying in the walls for food. But the maids did most of the work around the palace, so I couldn’t see why _they_ weren’t the ones in charge. Shouldn’t the hardest workers be given the greatest rewards?

Well, apparently _I_ was the one in charge, judging by the maids’ behavior towards me. If I showed even the slightest sign of wanting something, they tripped all over themselves to bring it to me, and they always used the word “lady” in front of my name.

“Why do they do that?” I asked Agnarr one day as he showed me around the palace garden. “Address me as if I’m their superior or something?”

Agnarr suddenly looked sheepish. “Well… you kind of are,” he said. “They call you Lady Iduna because you’ve been made one. A lady of the court, that is.”

“ _What?_ ” I gaped at him. “And _no one_ thought to tell me?”

“They all assumed you already knew,” Agnarr said, purposefully avoiding my eye. “And, well… I knew you probably wouldn’t be so happy about it.”

“Then why do it in the first place?” I asked persistently.

Agnarr bit his lip. “I wanted them to treat you well,” he finally said, the tips of his ears turning red. “They might have been cruel to you because you’re an outsider. I didn’t want that to happen.”

Touched, I said nothing for a moment. Then I swallowed. “That’s very kind of you.”

Agnarr smiled bashfully, and I gave him a small grin in return before changing the subject to something less likely to set off my temper again.

But as I lay in the soft, warm bed that night, staring up at the roof that blocked the starry night sky, I missed it all. I missed my father, my mother. I missed the soft rustle of the wind in the woods and the rushing of the river. I missed my mother’s voice, lulling me to sleep with the melody I’d sung for Agnarr. But most of all, I missed Gale, my first and only friend from before, with his cool breeze keeping me from becoming too warm in the night.

I hadn’t seen any sign of Gale since he’d tucked me in that night by the mist. I didn’t know if it was even possible for him to get this far south, away from our Enchanted Forest.

I wondered if I could find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to throw in as notes in here. I guess all I can say is that Iduna was raised in a culture where hard work was rewarded with great benefits, and the way the higher palace officials, who don't do that much work that Iduna sees, look down on the maids, who do most of the visible work, seems wrong to her. She also doesn't like that they see her as their superior. She thinks herself on the same level as them, and she doesn't like the feeling of not having to do anything productive. She would much rather be a maid than a lady of the court.  
> Speaking of which, Agnarr being protective of the girl that saved his life. ToT So cute! (I hope I did that emoticon right.)  
> That's all for today. (Again, sorry!) Have fun and stay safe!

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I got the screaming out of my system at the beginning there. I'm good now.  
> I wrote this story because a couple off little things about Frozen II irked me once I went and saw it. Mainly how the movie didn't show that clip from the trailer where Iduna arrives in Arendelle with a baby reindeer because EEEE that was so cute! So now I've written this to bring it back, you're welcome, and enjoy the rest of this because it's all gonna be FUNFUNFUN!! I plan to go into more cute scenes with Iduna and her girls later on, so yay!


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